The Woman from Sound
by Cherry-Fiona
Summary: For all Kakashi fans! It seems like Kakashi's screen time has become less and less as the focus is now shifted toward the younger generation. Supposedly Kakashi has his own missions to accomplish so I thought I'd write about that just because I miss him
1. Default Chapter

**The Woman from Sound**

By chrryfiona

Chapter 1: Enter Sake

Kakashi couldn't decide whether she was stupid or arrogant. The headband on her forehead proclaimed her to be from the Village of Sound and given the devastation Leaf had recently suffered under Orochimaru, she must be suicidal to come here. Especially on the day of the Third Hokage's funeral. Because he was no longer as hotheaded as he used to be, Kakashi did not step forward to kill her. Besides he didn't want to reveal his hand should she be part of a trap. So he waited for her or someone else to make the first move. He did not have to wait long.

Every ninja of Leaf watched incredulously as the woman from Sound continued walking forward toward the shrine. They saw her and noted her identity but they were momentarily stunned into silence with disbelief at her audacity. The woman looked neither to the left nor right, her focus on the picture of the Third placed in the center of the temple. She clasped her hands in a buddha's palm formation and bowed low. Once, twice. She was interrupted before she could finish the third bow.

"How dare you!"

"I come only to pay my respects to the Third Hokage. I wish to cause no trouble."

The woman who had stepped forward to challenge the stranger from Sound spat at her feet. Kakashi saw without surprise that it was Yuuhi Kurenai. She had always been short of temper and the years had not changed her as it did him.

"The Sound did this to our village. How can you say you wish no trouble? And to have the audacity to enter this holy temple. Are you trying to mock our loss?"

"I have just as much right to be here as you. Perhaps even more. I am …"

The stranger halted her words as she flipped backward to avoid Yuuhi's attack. Left, right. The woman from Sound continued to dodge her opponent's kicks and thrusts. She had been pushed back so much that the room around which she could move became smaller and smaller.

"Hey, Kakashi sensei." Naruto whispered. "Shouldn't we do something? That woman from Sound seems so weak. Yuuhi's going to kill her."

Kakashi shook his head. "Yuuhi is not her equal. That woman from Sound is hiding her true strength. Look."

And indeed, although the stranger could no longer move as her back was now only a few steps from the wall, none of Yuuhi's blows was able to make contact with the target. The stranger was in a peculiar stance. Her right leg was back, its heel against the wall as if to stabilize her upper trunk. The only parts of the stranger that were moving were her upper extremities which she used to catch each of Yuuhi's attacks. And although each of her blocks were defensive in nature, the stranger was moving fluidly, almost slowly while Yuuhi began to breath harder and harder and her parries became more erratic and less precise. Yuuhi, enraged as she realized she was being toyed with, concentrated her Chakra into her legs and while she feinted a right uppercut, struck out with her left foot. For a nanosecond, she thought she had made contact as she felt the stranger's hair brush against her leg but then realized the hard surface under her right foot was the wall. The force of her Chakra had been strong and she had punched a hole through the bricks but somehow the woman from Sound had dodged the blow.

Fast. Yuuhi thought, incredulously. Almost as fast as Kakashi. Horror dawned on her as she felt two fingers pressed lightly, but threateningly nonetheless, against her carotid artery.

"I tried to play it your way but I find my patience has come to an end. That last move was intended to kill me, wasn't it?"

"So now you reveal your true colors," Yuuhi smiled smugly. "Do it. I dare you to kill me in front of all the ninjas of Leaf. Do you really think you'll escape this village alive?"

The stranger sighed. "So true. But at least I'll have the satisfaction of having sent you to Hell first."

Yuuhi gasped. What kind of a person was this woman from Sound? She was no ninja that was for sure. No ninja would have such a narrow focused mentality. To put one's own gratification above everything else was simply unthinkable.

"What is this ruckus!"

The stranger and Yuuhi looked up at the Elder who had spoken so angrily.

"Sake?"

The stranger looked embarrassed and awkwardly dropped her hold on Yuuhi's neck. She bowed deeply in respect. "Elder Jin."

The older man walked toward her and clasped her tightly with joy. "I can't believe you're back, my daughter!"

Naruto looked at Elder Jin and then his head turned toward the woman from Sound only to swivel back at Elder Jin again. "What? Elder Jin has a daughter from Sound? I thought he was an inhabitant of Leaf?" His head was beginning to hurt.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura asked, "Do you know what's going on and who that 'Sake' woman is?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I've never seen her before but her white hair and features remind me of someone."

"Who?" chimed Naruto and Sakura eagerly, but Kakashi had turned silent again, lost in his own thoughts.


	2. Worthy of Trust

The Woman from Sound

By chrryfiona

Chapter 2: Worthy of Trust

"This is unthinkable!" Yuuhi's fist hit the floor.

"Calm down, Yuuhi." Sarutobi said, putting his hand on Yuuhi's shoulder.

"Sarutobi, surely you don't believe this woman!"

"It doesn't matter if you believe her." Kakashi interrupted quietly from his corner. "We don't know her and so have no basis for trusting her. But we do know Elder Jin and we should trust his judgment." He paused for emphasis. "The village of Leaf has no Hokage at the moment. If we each act as individuals, we'll be like a snake with its head chopped off. And then Orochimaru's plans to bring down Leaf will be successful. The Third's sacrifice will have been in vain."

Kakashi's words hit every ninja in the room like a splash of cold water. In their anger at the arrival of a stranger from an enemy village, they had forgotten what the Third had given up in order to protect everyone in Leaf.

"I understand how everyone feels." Elder Jin said. "To accept help from the very village who had sought to destroy us is ludicrous, but we cannot deny that we are currently at a disadvantage. Many of our men have died. If we cannot meet up with the demands of the missions given to us, we might as well announce to everyone that Leaf is no longer the leader."

Sake had kept her eyes lowered after she had made the offer to have her men wear the Leaf headband while they helped with some of the missions so as to ease Leaf's burden. She lifted them now and gazed at the ninjas sitting in front of her. Sake could only feel admiration for a village that had fought against Orochimaru and suffered great losses but had refused to admit defeat. They were truly extraordinary men and women. A part of her heart wished she could have been part of this great village, sharing in their victories and defeats, but such feelings were meaningless now. The past could not be changed and wishing was for foolish dreamers.

"I give you my word of honor as ninja that I mean no deception. The leader of Sound was held hostage by Orochimaru and could do nothing but agree with his plans. Now that the Third Hokage has defeated Orochimaru, my lord wishes to make amends. He hopes that by sending me, his adopted daughter, the village of Leaf will see this and accept it as a sign of his goodwill."

"Elder, I mean you no disrespect." Yuuhi said, ignoring Sake. "Trust is not given lightly. It is something that is earned and may I ask, what has the village of Sound done to show us that they are sincere? Their word of honor? I would sooner trust a weasel."

All the ninjas looked at Sake in surprise as she slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "You have every right to be angry at Sand for having broken the truce first but Sound is a victim in this. If there is nothing I can say to make you believe me, I will have to let my actions speak for me. I will let you vent your anger on me. How about it?"

Yuuhi's lips turned up scornfully. "Don't make me laugh. You would not survive if I were to vent my anger on you."

The woman from Sound grinned. She lifted her hand beckoningly. "Then let's do a little test, shall we? I will let you hit me three times. Feel free to use all your power; I won't retaliate or defend myself. If in the end I am still standing, you have to give Sound this chance to redeem itself."

Mixed feelings permeated the room. Not a few wanted to jump at the chance to take revenge for the death of the Third Hokage. Orochimaru was presently out of their reach but he had formed an alliance with Sound. Indeed many of the ninjas who had formed the ambush on Leaf that day had originated from Sound. That village was just as responsible. However, even the angriest ninja could not dismiss the feeling that it was dishonorable to hit someone, especially a woman, who was not going to defend herself. But most of all, there was a sense of suspicion. Who was this woman and why would she go to such lengths to earn Leaf's trust?

Kakashi himself was at a loss for words. His ability to remain calm and sometimes even apathetic in most situations was because he could usually see right through to people's motives. But this Sake. She continually surprised him. Her actions were even more unpredictable than Naruto's. Naruto's erratic behavior though stemmed from a very straightforward character; the boy was simply incapable of deception of any kind and so his actions, though strange from the average person's standpoint, was actually quite reasonable and logical once Kakashi knew Naruto's personality. No one, however, would be foolish enough to think that this woman would be so simple. No, her every move was carefully thought out and had purpose. Kakashi just didn't know what that purpose was yet. And so, he remained silent, not agreeing with what he knew Yuuhi was about to do, but not stopping her either.

The two women faced each other in the center of the room. The other ninjas had moved next to the walls to give them more space. Elder Jin tried to make a final sound of protest but Kakashi put his hand on the older man's shoulder and pressed firmly. "You can't do anything. This fight is inevitable." The one-eyed man said quietly.

"Remember your promise."

"I'll remember it." Yuuhi smirked. "But only if you live to hold me to my promise." The blow came fast and almost unexpectedly. Yuuhi had moved forward with her right palm extended. She had centered her Chakra into the fingers and they jabbed stiffly into the other woman's liver. As Sake bent forward in pain, Yuuhi's arm which had continued forward now retreated. The flow of Chakra had also moved back into her elbow and she made a second contact, this time with Sake's right kidney. The woman from Sound slumped to the ground, heaving for her every breath.

"By the way, just so we're on the same page. Those two hits were part of a continuous move so they really only count as one." Without pause, Yuuhi bent low and jerked her knee up, catching the other woman's chin. There was a horrible clicking sound as teeth made contact with tongue. Sake's face snapped back and because there was a twist to Yuuhi's knee, her head was flung to one side. She had no balance and unable to stop the momentum, her body too went flying. She landed on something hard but not as flat as the floor she was expecting. Hands grabbed at her, holding her up because her legs were unable to accomplish even that simple task. Blood trickled from her lips onto the green juunin jacket cushioning her face.

"Sorry," Sake muttered as she looked up at the face of the ninja who caught her. One dispassionate eye gazed down at her. The other eye, if there was one, was hidden by a headband slung low over half his face. She saw more of the ninja's gray-blue hair which was thick and stuck out wildly everywhere than the ninja himself because the rest of his face was hidden in black cloth. "Sorry," she repeated and pushed herself away.

Sake felt the floor sway beneath her feet only to realize that it was her own body that was swaying. Her legs were still shaky. It had been a long time since she was so badly hurt that she almost forgot her body's reactions to being hit and to pain.

"Still standing? I didn't realize I was such a merciful person. If you can still get up after this, then you can stay and offer your 'help' to Leaf."

Sake tried to steel herself for the third attack but she could barely draw a breath. She thought she might be bleeding internally but she couldn't be sure. Before she could form another thought, Yuuhi had planted a fist into Sake's solar plexus. Air caught in Sake's diaphragm. She collapsed to the floor, curling into a fetal position. For a few seconds, she almost blacked out from lack of oxygen. When she was finally able to suck air greedily in, she found she couldn't expel the carbon dioxide because there was something blocking her airways. The blockage turned out to be blood which Sake discovered when she managed to form a feeble cough. Now there was no doubt. Sake knew she had an internal hemorrhage. A voice from long ago sounded in her head. "Get up, Sake. Get up." The command was insistent and Sake was helpless to it. "Father?" She whispered, so softly that no one heard her, and gathered all her remaining strength into her legs. She stood like a thin sapling at the mercy of the winds, trying with all her might to concentrate on not moving because she knew that if she took even one step, she would keel over and not be able to get up again.

Yuuhi looked at her opponent in disbelief. The female ninja from Leaf knew herself very well. She was a woman fighting in a man's world and not one second went by that she was unaware of how lacking she was when she compared herself to others like Kakashi and Gai. So she had trained hard and made sure that what she lacked in strength, she made up for in strategic hits. When she made the punch, she wasn't aiming for the other woman's solar plexus but rather something more posterior, the spinal cord. She knew that if she did that, the fist would go deeper and cause more pain than just bruising to the abdominal muscles. She had performed the move on others before and even men had crumbled under it. Yuuhi couldn't understand how this one woman, who was really quite slender and helpless looking, could still be able to stand. Were the fighters from Sound so powerful?

"Enough." Elder Jin stepped forward. "Sake has taken your three hits. The terms have been satisfied. Yuuhi, do you now believe she is honorable enough to earn your trust? And before you answer my question, know this. Sake may wear the headband of Sound, but she was born in the Hidden Village of Leaf. Her father was a ninja of Leaf."

The room echoed with amazed whispers as everyone present tried to digest this news. Who could have been Sake's father? It couldn't have been too long ago because she looked no more than 20 at the most.

"Yuuhi, do I have your permission? Will you give our two villages this chance to mend our differences?" It wasn't until Sake saw the other woman's grudging nod that she finally gave in to her pain. Blackness welcomed her right before she collapsed into a pair of arms.


	3. Engaging in a Battle of Wits

Thank you so much to the kind readers who've commented on this fanfic. Believe me, if it weren't for your encouragement, I might not have posted this next chapter. Someone told me recently that fanfics featuring Mary-Sues (characters who are not in the original manga/anime) are lame – thereby insinuating that my story is lame because Sake _is_ a character of my own creation. (_laughs sheepishly)_ Actually, the person was a bit more direct than that and maybe that's why the majority of Naruto fans are hesitant to read this story. Naturally, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinions but truthfully, I don't know of any other way to portray the hidden aspects of Kakashi's character; he really does need someone to play off of or else I might as well just make a list describing all his attributes and post that. Now **that** would really be lame. The current set of characters introduced by the Naruto mangaka just wasn't sufficient enough, I thought – hence enter Sake. Anyway, back to my original point: I know good writers are supposed to write for the pure pleasure of writing itself and while there is truth in that, it's doubly pleasurable to have an audience other than myself. So please know that your comments are much appreciated!

The Woman from Sound

By chrryfiona

Chapter 3: Engaging in a Battle of Wits

Consciousness was highly overrated, Sake thought when she opened her eyes, her abdominal muscles screaming at her as she raised herself to a sitting position. A helpful hand pulled the pillow from underneath her and placed it behind her back.

"Ah, thanks. It was getting a bit painful there without any support." She leaned onto the pillow and looked up at the person beside her. She had to tilt her head quite a bit because the man was somewhat tall. Lean though, and not very bulky but if she remembered correctly, his was a solidly muscular body because he was the one-eyed person who had caught her when Yuuhi had kneed her in the face. Reminded of that injury, Sake raised a hand to her jaw and winced. She opened her mouth to ask for a mirror but was preempted.

"Trust me. You don't want to look at yourself right now." The man said, lowering himself onto the chair conveniently placed next to the bed. "Kurenai did a really good job on the right side of your face. Though Kaori tells me you're healing at an extremely rapid pace because in only a matter of two days, your bruise has gone from purple to yellowish-green. Unusual, wouldn't you say? Though perhaps not as unusual as a woman from Sound coming to Leaf to offer help."

"Kaori?"

"The nurse."

"Oh. Which reminds me - don't you think it's rude to interrogate a sick patient? Especially when you haven't even the decency to introduce yourself?"

"Pardon me. Recent events have made me remiss in my manners. Hatake Kakashi, at your service. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Sake looked at him squarely and asked with her best poker face, "Now what makes you say that?"

Kakashi sat up, all laziness aside. "Please don't insult my intelligence. I still have yet to determine the sincerity behind your offer but I refuse to believe a Hunter-Nin squad leader would come into Leaf's territory without prior preparation."

There were few moments in Sake's life in which she was rendered speechless with fear but this was one of them. If Kakashi knew she was a Hunter-Nin, what else did he know about her? So much was riding on the secrets she kept, not to mention her own life, and she still had to determine whether this man could be trusted with her knowledge. And if _he_ knew who she really was, does that mean other people did as well?

"How did you …"

"Your techniques gave you away. The taijutsu you performed on Kurenai's neck, for one. Your ability to accurately pick out her carotid artery while the two of you were moving was uncanny. Your knowledge of human anatomy is just not in the training of ordinary ninjas. I also noticed you were able to channel Chakra to help in your healing process. That you were capable of doing it while unconscious suggests that you've been trained to do so. And for a very long time." He paused here for emphasis. "Your fighting abilities far surpass that of a medic and when I put all the pieces together, the only logical conclusion I could come up with was that you are a Hunter-Nin squad leader."

Sake had been aware of Copycat Kakashi's intelligence. A man who was rumored to have duplicated over 1000 ninjutsus must have the quickness of mind to have learned all those techniques in the short seconds of a fight. The fact that Kakashi wasn't born from the Uchiha clan and so didn't acquire the Sharingan genetically meant that the "red eye" to which he owed his fame of Copycat Ninja could only do so much. Despite knowing all this, Sake was still caught off guard at how astute the man was.

It was true that ordinary ninjas cared very little about knowledge of the anatomy. They were more concerned with improving their jutsu; it did not matter where they specifically hurt a man or how they killed him as long as they took their opponent down. Medics, of course, needed to know the human body because that was crucial in their line of work. Most people, however, tended to forget the fact that Hunter-Nins trained with medics for two years. The reason was simple: Hunter-Nins just are not known as healers. Yet because they not only have to retrieve missing ninjas but also remove and destroy certain key organs, their training was a curious mixture of fighter and healer. Clearly, Hatake Kakashi was not "most people" and he had not forgotten anything.

Sake unclenched her fists from underneath the sheets. Relief rolled through her, taking away tension but much needed strength as well. Kakashi only figured out her background through observation and deduction. He didn't – couldn't – know everything else; her secret was still safe. "As fun as this has been, I think we should stop playing the game of 'who's the smarter one between us.' I was told the heir to the White Flash was the man I needed for my task and I'm glad my sources weren't wrong."

Kakashi remained silent but his quirked eyebrow spoke for him.

"Before I tell you why I really came here, I want to know what's happened to the men I brought with me."

"They're unharmed. They're not imprisoned but their moves are being watched. They probably know this already so for the most part, they've remained in Elder Jin's house. Smart men."

"They should be or I wouldn't have chosen them to be a part of my team. I brought them here because I knew Leaf was short on manpower and I'm about to deplete even more of your resources." Sake reached for the glass of water next to her bedside. She could tell the worst of her injuries were gone but her body still ached. She was also very dehydrated because just sitting up for a few minutes was making her lightheaded.

Kakashi grabbed the pitcher and refilled the glass which she had quickly emptied. He warned her though. "Slowly. You don't want to make yourself sick. Your stomach hasn't had anything in it for a couple of days."

Sake nodded in acknowledgment. "What do you know about the increasing number of ninjas missing from the villages?" She asked, noting his surprised reaction carefully.

He explained, "Leaf has lost so many men since the Orochimaru attack. We're recalling all of our ninjas to make sure we have accurate numbers of everyone who's still alive."

"Hmm… it's possible you might find fewer men returning than expected. The targets given to the Hunter-Nins seemed to have doubled recently. And it's not just from Sound. I've heard Mist and Sand have been facing the same problem."

"Are there any common elements connecting those missing?"

"Nothing overt. They come from all backgrounds. Married, single, male, female, some chuunins, some juunins. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind their disappearance. If they were killed, the Hunter-Nins would find their bodies but they've …" She shrugged helplessly. "They've disappeared without a trace."

"That would suggest that whoever took them wants them alive."

Sake nodded in agreement. "The question then is who and why. Interestingly enough, the numbers seemed to have spiked after the Third Hokage defeated Orochimaru."

Kakashi grew silent, his thoughts sifting through endless possibilities, yet always returning to one that was too horrifying to contemplate but undeniably the most probable. When in doubt, always assume the worst scenario and you're rarely wrong. "You think that Orochimaru is trying to find a new host now that his arms have been rendered paralyzed."

"I do. Call me a pessimist but I'm sure it's an unwritten law of the universe that the worst possible situation one can think of is that which is most likely to occur. Judging from what we know of Orochimaru's character and ambitions, it is highly doubtful that he would take any defeat lying down. He's changed bodies before; there is nothing to suggest that he won't do the same again."

The one-eyed man was startled at how similar this woman's thoughts ran with his own. Genma was probably the only other ninja who was as cynical. In fact, Kakashi and the ninja who never went anywhere without a straw in his mouth were often teased for being so alike in their way of thinking and demeanor that they might as well have been born brothers.

"He probably won't settle for anything but the strongest host though the fact that the ninjas who've gone missing are randomly picked suggests that he must be desperate," continued Sake.

"Unless it's his backup plan in case he can't attain his true target." Kakashi hypothesized, thinking out loud.

"Interesting. I hadn't looked at it from that angle before but you could be right. Apparently the rumors about Sharingan Kakashi have not been exaggerated."

He shrugged. "That still doesn't explain why you're here. I don't know where those missing ninjas are."

"No," the woman from Sound agreed. "But there is someone here who might and I need you to convince her to help me."

"Her?" Kakashi's eye widened as he realized to whom Sake was referring. "Mitarashi Anko."

"Indeed. The woman who once fought beside Orochimaru's side and who still carries his seal on her body."


End file.
